For some, red-tailed hawk is a welcome neighbor

LAKEVILLE — An attack by a red-tailed hawk on a 38-year-old Lakeville man earlier this month has caused a stir in the media over the past week. While many televised reports indicate some residents are now fearful of the large bird - whose sharp talons sent its victim to the hospital - there are others who say this isola...

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By MATTHEW FERREIRA

southcoasttoday.com

By MATTHEW FERREIRA

Posted Jul. 26, 2014 at 12:01 AM

By MATTHEW FERREIRA
Posted Jul. 26, 2014 at 12:01 AM

» Social News

LAKEVILLE — An attack by a red-tailed hawk on a 38-year-old Lakeville man earlier this month has caused a stir in the media over the past week. While many televised reports indicate some residents are now fearful of the large bird - whose sharp talons sent its victim to the hospital - there are others who say this isolated incident hasn't shaken them. They say the bird, which has a nest near the spot where the attack took place, may have been simply protecting its young, and that's natural.

"It's just part of rural living," said Lakeville resident Sylvester Zienkiewicz, who lives on Anaconda Drive, one street over from Captain's Way where the hawk's nest is located.

According to Zienkiewicz, along with others interviewed by The Gazette, red-tailed hawks are a welcomed and crucial part of Lakeville's ecosystem.

"This is a larger hawk so they're a little slower as hunters, which is why they tend to eat things that are on the ground which for us is chipmunks, squirrels, mice — things like that," he said. "If it weren't for the hawks around here, we'd be overrun with vermin. They're very important birds."

The victim, a Lakeville resident, told news sources he wished to remain anonymous but said in one report that there was a previous attack where the same hawk swooped down at him but missed about a week prior to the incident that landed him in the hospital with a concussion and puncture wounds around his head.

"I didn't see him coming at all. He latched onto my head. I guess he was trying to pick me up," the victim said of the second attack.

Other residents who are familiar with the hawk offered possible explanations for the bird's behavior.

"Whenever you take away a predator from the environment, the populations of whatever that animal preyed on are going to start getting out of control," said Lakeville resident Joe Urbanski. "I know where I live she did a great job of controlling squirrels. We had about fifteen at one point and the hawk brought it down to maybe five or six."

Urbanski, who has lived on Old Main Street for 47 years, says he is familiar with the particular hawk that is now nested on Old Captain's Way. He first noticed the bird about three years ago.

"I think she's bounced back and forth between my street and Old Captain's Way where her nest is now," he said. "When she was here on my street, she was nesting right across from my house. I'd welcome her back if she were to come this way again."

Urbanski noted that the mother hawk's offspring are now nearing the edge of the nest, which would indicate they are almost ready to fly.

Amy Mahler of the state Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs told one news broadcaster that hawk attacks on people are "not very common" and that such behavior "normally occurs in close proximity to their nest or their fledged young because they perceive people as a threat and they're simply trying to defend their young."

Lakeville Conservation Commission member and outdoor-enthusiast Martha Schroeder said she is not an expert on red-tailed hawks but, based on her research, she has some educated guesses as to the nature of this particular hawk and the highly publicized attack.

"I am not an expert, but everything I have read about red-tailed hawks would suggest that the presence of people near the nest is often a cause of nest failure as the hawks leave the nest. Perhaps this more aggressive bird has been a successful breeder because she is aggressive and does not fly away. If she has been not only protecting her nest but also the fledglings, I would think she would be protective of her area for several months, well into August," she said.

Schroeder mentioned that her home off Vaughn Street by the Nemasket River has long been frequented by red-tailed hawks.

"We have lived here for 15 years and always have red hawks on the property earlier in the season — usually a breeding pair," she said. "We are never sure where their nests are, but we have never had any problem. I love it when they visit my garden."

Though many residents are welcoming of red-tailed hawks, for some neighbors of the nest on Old Captain's Way, the attack which occurred the Saturday before last around 3:15 p.m. was too close for comfort.

Kristen Iolli, whose mailbox happens to be beneath the nest at 7 Captain's Way, told one reporter that she now fears getting her mail and now drives to the box.

The owner of the property where the nest is located, Les Garnier, told the same reporter he's always enjoyed bird watching but has had to take down feeders out of concern that the hawk might prey on smaller birds while they eat.

"(I) went out and bought one of these artificial owls. Did nothing. I think he welcomed the owl to the neighborhood," he said.

Mahler, the state spokesperson, suggested that concerned residents might do well to wear hats or carry an object above their heads as hawks tend to strike at the highest point. Schroeder also offered residents some advice.

"If I was in that neighborhood, I would really read up on hawks and learn their cries," said Schroeder. "I would try to figure out where she was most active and avoid that area if possible so as not to upset her. If I could not avoid that area and attacks were frequent, I would buy safari hats for my family and continue to be grateful for the rodent control."

"She just did what any mother would do if she felt her young were threatened by something," said Urbanski. "Living out here we have to adapt to the nature around us and learn to live with it. It's part of being in Lakeville."

For more information on red-tailed hawks or to hear audio clips of their calls, visit www.audubon.org/birds/red-tailed-hawk.